Smoking bans save hearts

Not that a lot of folks in San Francisco need convincing that smoking bans are good for public health, but a new UCSF study offers some pretty substantial proof.

Public smoking bans cut heart attack rates by about one-third after three years, according to the research. The effects are fairly immediate — heart attack rates fall about 17 percent in the first year after a ban is introduced — and continue falling for three years before the rates reach a plateau.

The research, published in Monday’s issue of Circulation, was a meta-analysis of 13 previous studies in the United States, Canada and Europe. (You’ll have to pay to read the full study, but an abstract is free online.)

What sets the new research apart is that enough time has passed to accuruately say just how much of an impact smoking bans have on overall public health, said UCSF researcher James Lightwood, co-author of the study.

His study didn’t look at rates of lung cancer or other diseases caused by smoking or second-hand smoke. It only looked at heart attack rates.

According to the American Heart Association, non-smokers who breathe in second-hand smoke at work or home have a 25 percent to 30 percent increased risk of developing heart disease.

California was one of the first states in the United States to ban smoking in public places like offices and restaurants. Since the 1994 ban, dozens of communities have banned smoking everywhere except inside private homes.